Nutrition and Health Claims

Note: The requirements of this section are derived from the retained EU Regulation 1924/2006 which, with appropriate amendments for the UK, applies controls on nutrition and health claims. Definitions are provided in the Regulation - see Definitions of Claims.

General Principle

Nutrition and health claims shall not:

be false, ambiguous or misleading;
give rise to doubt about the safety and/or the nutritional adequacy of other foods;
encourage or condone excess consumption of a food;
state, suggest or imply that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general.
refer to changes in bodily functions which could give rise to or exploit fear in the consumer, either textually or through pictorial, graphic or symbolic representations.

Conditions of Use

The Regulation provides that the use of nutrition and health claims will in future be restricted on foods which do not meet specified “nutrient profiles”. However none have been adopted. If they are adopted, foods which do not meet the profiles will have a transitional period of 24 months to remove the claims from the labels.
Beverages containing more than 1.2% by volume of alcohol shall not bear health claims. As far as nutrition claims are concerned, only nutrition claims referring to low alcohol levels, or the reduction of the alcohol content, or the reduction of the energy content for beverages containing more than 1.2% by volume of alcohol, shall be permitted.

General Conditions

The use of nutrition and health claims shall only be permitted if the following conditions are fulfilled:

the presence, absence or reduced content in a food or category of food of a nutrient or other substance in respect of which the claim is made has been shown to have a beneficial nutritional or physiological effect, as established by generally accepted scientific evidence;
the nutrient or other substance for which the claim is made:
- is contained in the final product in a significant quantity as defined in applicable enactments or, where such rules do not exist, in a quantity that will produce the nutritional or physiological effect claimed as established by generally accepted scientific evidence; or
- is not present or is present in a reduced quantity that will produce the nutritional or physiological effect claimed as established by generally accepted scientific evidence;
where applicable, the nutrient or other substance for which the claim is made is in a form that is available to be used by the body;
the quantity of the product that can reasonably be expected to be consumed provides a significant quantity of the nutrient or other substance to which the claim relates, as defined in applicable enactments or, where such rules do not exist, a significant quantity that will produce the nutritional or physiological effect claimed as established by generally accepted scientific evidence;
compliance with the specific conditions set out below.

The use of nutrition and health claims shall only be permitted if the average consumer can be expected to understand the beneficial effects as expressed in the claim. Nutrition and health claims shall refer to the food ready for consumption in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Scientific substantiation for claims

Nutrition and health claims shall be based on, and substantiated by, generally accepted scientific evidence.
A food business operator making a nutrition or health claim shall justify the use of the claim.
The competent authority may request a food business operator or a person placing a product on the market to produce all relevant elements and data establishing compliance with this Regulation.

Nutrition information

Where a nutrition claim or health claim is made (with the exception of generic advertising) nutrition labelling is mandatory (see Nutrition declaration for details). In addition, where the claim relates to a nutrient:

for which nutrition labelling is optional (mono-unsaturates, polyunsaturates, polyols, starch, fibre and specified vitamins and minerals), details of that nutrient is compulsory.
that does not appear in the nutrition labelling, the amount of the substance shall be stated in the same field of vision and be expressed in accordance with the nutrition labelling rules. The units of measurement used shall be appropriate for the substance concerned.

Nutrition Claims - Specific Conditions

Nutrition claims shall only be permitted if they are listed in the Annex to the Regulation and comply with the specified conditions.(see Table of permitted nutrition claims)

Examples:

Nutrition Claims - Comparative claims (Article 9)

A comparison may only be made between foods of the same category, taking into consideration a range of foods of that category. The difference in the quantity of a nutrient and/or the energy value shall be stated and the comparison shall relate to the same quantity of food.
Comparative nutrition claims shall compare the composition of the food in question with a range of foods of the same category, which do not have a composition which allows them to bear a claim, including foods of other brands.

Examples:

Comparative nutrition claim - Snack bar

Health Claims - Specific Conditions
Health claims shall be prohibited unless they comply with the general requirements given above and the specific requirements given below. All health claims have be be on an approved list of authorised claims (see links below).

Health claims shall only be permitted if the following information is included in the labelling, or if no such labelling exists, in the presentation and advertising:

a statement indicating the importance of a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle;

the quantity of the food and pattern of consumption required to obtain the claimed beneficial effect;

where appropriate, a statement addressed to persons who should avoid using the food; and

an appropriate warning for products that are likely to present a health risk if consumed to excess.

Reference to general, non-specific benefits of the nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being may only be made if accompanied by a specific health claim included on the authorised list.

Health Claims - Restricted Claims

The following health claims are not allowed:

claims which suggest that health could be affected by not consuming the food;
claims which make reference to the rate or amount of weight loss;
claims which make reference to recommendations of individual doctors or health professionals and associations other than national associations of medical, nutrition or dietetic professionals and health-related charities.

Examples:

Guidance / Additional Information

The EU Regulation 1924/2006 (as amended for the UK) is complex but additional guidance is available. The following are suggested:

Web page: Nutrition and health claims - Guidance to compliance with Regulation (EC) 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods Detailed guidance issued by the Department of Health.
General Principles on Flexibility of Wording for Health Claims. A document agreed by Member States in 2012 and provided on-line by the Department of Health.
Guidance on comparative nutrition claims. Published by the UK's Food and Drink Federation - January 2018.
Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. A Department of Health and Social Care page giving access to an Excel spreadsheet of approved claims. [Note however that this is a direct copy of the EU Register as it existed on the 31 December 2020. In many cases it would be easier to access the data from the EU Register given below except any changes made by the EU since 1 January 2021 do not apply to the UK unless they also appear on the UK Register]
EU Register of nutrition and health claims made on foods. A Commission webpage which provides access to the EU register of both authorised and rejected health claims.
Nutrition and Health Claims Legislation. A page on the main Foodlaw-Reading site which provides a summary of the controls as well as links to all the relevant legislation in the EU and UK.